US Sanctions Russian President Vladimir Putin

The EU, Canada and UK have also added Putin to their sanctions lists.

AccessTimeIconFeb 25, 2022 at 11:51 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 3:42 p.m. UTC
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The U.S., European Union and U.K. are all adding Russian President Vladimir Putin to their respective sanctions lists in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Calling the move "a rare step," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing on Friday that it would target Putin's finances, as well as bar him from travel to the U.S. This is the third tranche of sanctions announced against Russia since it began invading Ukraine earlier this week.

"Following a television telephone conversation President [Joe] Biden held with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and in alignment with the decision by our European allies, the United States will join them in sanctioning President Putin and Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov and members of the Russian national security team. I expect we'll have more specific details out later this afternoon," Psaki said.

Psaki demurred when asked about details, saying those would be discussed when the sanctions are formally unveiled. She did say that the U.S.' sanctions are in line with similar efforts made by the European Commission.

A Treasury Department press release published later said any property belonging to a sanctioned individual that is held within the U.S. would be seized, but did not specify if any such property had already been identified.

"We are working in close coordination and lockstep with our European counterparts ... The shared hope is they will have significant economic and financial consequences," Psaki said.

Psaki later announced on Twitter the Treasury Department would also add sanctions against the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia's de facto sovereign wealth fund.

The U.S. has already added several of Russia's largest banks to its sanctions list, seizing assets held in the U.S. and blocking these institutions from interacting with the U.S. financial sector. Reciprocating sanctions enacted by the U.K. and EU will enforce similar bans.

These countries have also announced they will seize assets belonging to individuals with close ties to the Russian president.

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Nikhilesh De

Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation. He owns marginal amounts of bitcoin and ether.


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